Gertrude smoothed her skirt. “Security has it locked away. It’s for the best.”
I gritted my teeth. “Why should I believe you?”
“Do you have a birthmark on your left hip?” Claudius asked, his eyes twinkling.
I hesitated and said yes.
“And you like being kissed by Hamlet on the neck?” he pressed.
My father leaped out of his seat. “Enough!” He turned to me. “Ophelia, you will do this or, so help me, I will never speak to you again.”
I couldn’t lose my dad. Not over Hamlet. I would do what they wanted, even though I knew I would never forgive myself for it.
Quietly I said, “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
“And one more thing,” Claudius said, his smirk clear to see if anyone else had been looking at him. “Hamlet is going to a charity function tomorrow morning, and you will ride with him. During that drive, you’d best get some information. And since we don’t trust that you will tell us the truth about what Hamlet might say, your father and I will be in the car with you. Hidden in front, of course.”
I sucked in my breath and looked over my shoulder. My dad was sitting with his back to me, his head in his hands. My own head dropped. “Fine,” I said, trying not to think of how I was joining the long line of deceivers waiting to bring Hamlet down. Hamlet knew me better than I knew myself, and he had been right not to trust in me. Once again, I regretted confiding in my father. And I regretted that I had ever been brought to live at the castle.
I had planned on going home but hit the button for the basement level instead. I walked out of the elevator following the trail of fluorescent lights to an anonymous, freshly painted white door and knocked. It swung open quickly, revealing three walls of small television screens all showing different parts of the castle. I gasped when I spotted a black-and-white image of my father sitting in his office.
“What the—Ophelia!” exclaimed the short blond security officer who had reached behind his swivel chair to open the door. He leaped up and moved to block my view of the TV screens in the room.
A guard with a dark beard and angry eyes rose from his chair and flicked a switch, turning all of the TVs off. “How did you find this room?”
“I’ve lived in the castle my whole life. Security has always been here.”
“What do you want?” growled the dark-haired one.
“I—”
“Get out,” he barked.
“When we were kids, the guards always let us—”
“Well, you’re not a child anymore.”
“No kidding,” said the blond guard, his blue eyes sparkling.
I wanted to twist the smirk off his face but was so shamed by the insinuation in his voice that all I could do was look at my feet. What had he seen? Where the hell were those cameras?
The dark-haired guy stepped closer. “The rules are different now. You are never to come here again.”
His tone was definite to the point of being a threat, so I backed away. He slammed the door, and I heard it lock.
“Damn it,” I muttered as I headed back down the hall. A camera was pointed right at the elevator, so I turned and headed for the stairwell.
As I reached for the door, Marcellus opened it and we both jumped in surprise.
“Ophelia, what are you doing here?”
“Nothing. I’m leaving.” I squeezed past him and started up the stairs, unsure of what those men knew, but wanting to run away from their leers.
“Hey, are you all right?”
I hesitated. Marcellus was nice, but he wasn’t a friend. Until recently, we had never exchanged more than a few words. His job was to be invisible to us, a menace to others, and a pair of watchful eyes. I had only seen him laugh twice, both about some comment Hamlet made directly to him. At all other times, Marcellus was professional, impenetrable. He could be trusted with our lives, but I didn’t know if he could be trusted with my secrets.
When I offered no reply, he asked, “Can I help?”
I hesitated again. “I came… I wanted to know about the cameras.”
“What about them?”
“Where they are. What they see.”
This time, it was Marcellus who filled the stairwell with silence. His eyes glanced into the corner and I saw a little red light. Another camera. A small one. So small you wouldn’t have seen it if you weren’t looking for it. He